Kombucha and beer, good summer drinking!

Sometimes there’s nothing better than kombucha and beer on a hot day. And this guy has been on my mind as the Bay Area heads toward its September “summer”. The mix is perky and refreshing, a lot like a lemonade and beer shandy but with more tang, less sugar, and that special zip that kombucha has. Germans call the shandy a radler or “cyclist”, maybe because it’s the kind of thing you can drink and then still get back on your bike and keep riding? I like to call it the Temescal Radler, after the hip, bikeable Oakland neighborhood. And last year some restaurants around the east bay were even selling a locally made brand called Temescal kombucha that they’d mix with the beers they had on tap.

It’s an especially good way to use kombucha that has fermented too long and gotten too sour. The malty body of the beer cuts the sourness of the kombucha. By the same token, it’s a great way to add something extra to a can of cheap beer left over after a party. As you can see from the photo at the top, this time I didn’t have either on hand, but I had to have one!